Argentina Received The First Modernized P-3C Orion Patrol Aircraft
The Argentine Navy announced that the first of four ex-Lockheed P-3 Orion anti-submarine and maritime patrol aircraft purchased last year from the Royal Norwegian Air Force (Luftforsvaret) has arrived at the runway of Almirante Zar Naval Air Base in Trelew, Chubut Province.
The first P-3C Orion, which served for many years in RNoAF service with serial number 3299 and the name ‘Ulabrand,’ will soon receive the tactical number 6-P-57 according to the Argentine navy and will be assigned to Naval Aviation Command No. 3 (Fuerza Aeronaval N.° 3, FAE3).
Following all these processes, the commissioning of the first aircraft will take place in mid-September at the Aeroparque Military Air Base in the city of Buenos Aires, in the presence of the Minister of Defence, Luis Alfonso Petri, and the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Vice Admiral Carlos María Allievi. Other Argentine officials and special guests are expected to attend the reception, as well as the Ambassadors of Norway and the United States of America to the Argentine Republic, Norwegian ministry officials, and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.
The Argentine Naval Aviation Command expects to take delivery of the contract’s other three ex-Norwegian Lockheed P-3 Orion aircraft, which are currently undergoing maintenance and modernization in the US, by the end of 2025. Two aircraft, which can be used for another 15 years after modernization, will be the P-3C variant equipped to perform maritime patrol and anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare (ASuW) missions. The other will be a P-3N variant configured for search and rescue (SAR) operations.
Argentina, which has been using P-3Bs purchased from the US Navy since 1997 and are in need of repair, will significantly increase its long-range reconnaissance capability in the sea and river areas in its Exclusive Economic Zone with the addition of these relatively new four-engine turboprop patrol aircraft to its fleet.